


Hit Me Baby...One More Time

by kakashisninken



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Break Up, Drunk Antics, F/M, Happily Ever After collection, Karaoke, Modern AU, alcohol consumption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakashisninken/pseuds/kakashisninken
Summary: After a messy break up, Ben Solo is determined to win his ex-girlfriend, Rey, back. Drunk, Ben turns up to the Karaoke bar Rey works at in order to win her back.Based on the prompt: After a break up, a lonely Ben gets drunk and performs at the karaoke bar that Rey works at in order to win her back. The song? Hit me baby one more time
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, rey/kylo - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 74
Collections: The Happily Ever After Collection





	Hit Me Baby...One More Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Happily Ever After Collection based on the prompt:After a break up, a lonely Ben gets drunk and performs at the karaoke bar that Rey works at in order to win her back. The song? Hit me baby one more time
> 
> For anonymous x

Parting ways, seperating, splitting, breaking up. Whatever you called it, the end of a relationship was always a messy affair in one's life.

Movie and pizza night started with cuddles on the sofa and escalated to a screaming match so loud the whole of Ocean Avenue, even the surrounding suburb of Flatbush, had a listen in. 

Ben couldn't tell you how it started or even the middle of it. Only that it was over a petty matter and it ended with Rey telling him she was over his bullshit; slamming his own front door in his face.

Two weeks later and Ben was a mess.

The night after Rey left his home and broke his heart, a night out with the boys was in order. Armitage and Mitaka pouring cheap beer down his throat round after round until he could barely take a step off the kerb and into the Uber home. 

Of course they had _‘advice’_ and _‘helpful suggestions_ ’ for their newly single pal. 

_‘It’s alright, plenty of fish in the sea_ ’ and _‘just fuck another girl and you’ll come right_ ’ and _‘come on man, let’s download Tinder_ ’

Ben didn’t want to fuck another girl. He didn’t want to find someone else either. The idea of typing _‘Tinder’_ into the App Store made his stomach churn. In all honesty, he just wanted to be left alone and so he did just that.

Break ups are the time in one's life to reflect on every single thing you have ever done wrong in your entire life. Maybe you weren’t attentive enough. Maybe you weren’t that great in bed after all. Maybe you had too many things wrong with you that it wasn’t worth it for them to stay anyway. Either way, it’s a deep well of self pity that was easy enough to fall in to, a well that Ben had very much fallen in to.

The cracks in their relationship were in clear view now, his own faults too. He had been pretentious. Always dismissing her taste in music and film, framing his own as superior. His attempts in trying to better her life by pushing her to get a better job instead had come across as if he was embarrassed or ashamed of her occupation. Things Rey had made very clear when they had screamed at each other that Saturday night.

She was not without her own faults in Ben’s eyes. Constantly putting on the pressure to contact his mother, despite when he insisted he would make contact in his own time. Her insistent need to be helpful all the time only for it to end in disaster; losing his keys while cleaning up after dinner or making the wine stain on his good white dress shirt worse than it originally was. As well as Rey’s lack of manners when it came to the last of anything. The last cookie, the last spring roll, the last piece of cake. Rey wouldn’t ask if you wanted the last slice, she’d just take it.

These are all things that Ben had also made very clear that Saturday night.

Though it wasn’t as big a problem as he made it seem. Ben would much rather have her fling spaghetti on the wall or hog his side of the bed or even tell him to at least email his father than be without her.

After the thinking came the late nights of stalking her on all of her social media accounts. On fake accounts of course because Rey had gone out of her way to block him from all of her accounts quite swiftly as soon as she left. She didn’t want to hear from him, the message was very clear and Ben didn’t want to be the guy who sends her one dollar to her PayPal as a way to make amends. Though he was feeling miserable and desperate enough.

From an outside perspective, one might say Rey was doing just fine. Her Instagram and Facebook posts of pictures of her girls nights filled with cocktails, buffets, and bowling. However Ben saw through it. He knew how she suffocated her emotions, how she tried to kill the anger and the sadness; the only thing bubbling to surface was a big smile and a fake laugh. Rey was hurting just as he was.

A six pack of beer chased down with half a bottle of Johnnie Walker later and Ben knew what he had to do. Gaining the strength from liquid luck to do it.

It had felt ridiculous when he had dropped his keys in his coat pocket as he walked out the door. It had felt ridiculous when he had hopped into the Uber and watched as the streets of Brooklyn passed him by. It had felt ridiculous when he stood outside Rebel Karaoke Lounge but he was here now and no matter how daunting the entrance was, he was going to go in.

At the bar stood a short woman with big framed glasses and straight black hair. She locked eyes with Ben the moment he walked in the place, though at six foot two he wasn’t that hard to miss in the first place. Rose Tico, she worked with Rey and was one of her closest friends. She had even been around Ben’s a couple of times for a few beers. Now she was staring daggers at him.

Rey wasn’t at the bar, she must have been on break. In a way it was a good idea to not see her straight away, give Ben a chance to calm his nerves. Rose was probably texting her right now behind the bar. _‘Rey come quick your crazy ex boyfriend is here’_. So she was bound to come out from the back pissed off and ready to launch back into it. A good time to order one last drink.

“I’ll have a bourbon and cola please” Ben walked to the bar with confidence. Taking out his card to pay for his drink and be on his way, no need to get Ms. Rose Tico seeing red. Yet she was.

“You shouldn’t even be here!” she said quietly to him, almost a warning. 

“All I’m doing is ordering a drink and then I’ll go” Ben put it simply. 

Rose huffed, hands on her hips as she frowned at the much taller man in front of her. Ben even gave her a polite smile, though it was fake, as an offering of good will. 

“Fine, whatever. One drink and then leave” she rolled her eyes, turning behind herself to grab the the bottle of bourbon from the shelf.

After making Ben his drink, Rose shooed him away from the bar. He decided to stand in the corner, away from the light, sipping his drink quickly through the black plastic straw. His heart thumping in his chest as he waited for her to come out.

Two minutes later she did. Her hair tied back in a bun and a black apron tied around her waist, she had come out the back looking quite at ease. Well, until Rose came over to her and whispered in her ear.

The jig was up. Rey finally knew he was here. It wasn’t too late to slip out, stick to the shadows and run when she wasn’t looking. Or even slipping out the bathroom window, though his bulking size would not help him there. Ben watched as she looked around for him, trying to spot him at the tables or near the dancefloor but to his surprise, Rey could not spot him yet.

The bar was quite full, not too surprising for a ten o’clock on a Saturday night. Good for business, not good for Ben’s self esteem. Because his idea was stupid, desperate and he was about to drunkly execute this plan in front of sixty or more people. 

He took a breath, quickly approaching the empty stage. Slipping off his coat and chucking it to the floor as he took a step onto the stage. All heads turned to his direction as he took the microphone in his hand, half of his bourbon and cola in the other. Blinded by the floor spotlight shining in his eyes, Ben could barely make out the crowd close to him. Instead he focused on the far back, towards the bar, watching as Rey’s face dropped at the sight of him.

“Ah…” he tapped the microphone, a loud squeal came from the speaker as a result causing everyone in the room to wince at the sound.

This had become even more awkward and uncomfortable than he imagined. Oh well, he was drunk and he was already up there. Now he really had to do something.

“Ah, fuck. Okay. This is for Rey, I’m really sorry. I love you and I’m sorry for being an asshole and I just want to make it up to you,” The words quickly poured out of his mouth like vomit, Ben’s eyes on Rey’s the entire time. Her cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment, looking around her to see if anyone was looking at her. 

“Okay...fuck…” he said as he began scrolling through the songs list. 

_B-52 - Love Shack_

_Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody_

_Adele - Rolling In The Deep_

_Blackstreet - No Diggity_

None of these songs were capturing the point he wanted to make. Of course Ben would just come out with some half prepared plan, not even thinking about what song would be the right one to sing to make this all okay. There was more than enough time on the ride over to think about yet here he was, on stage in front of a crowd of people, not to mention the love of his life, looking like a moron.

As the pressure to pick a song, any fucking song, began to build, he began scrolling desperately. Then he found it.

Rey grew up in the United Kingdom during the late nineties where the Spice Girls reigned queens of pop. Rey had always considered herself a Baby Spice, though Ben had felt she was really a Sporty Spice. Leaving England in the early two thousands and migrating to the United States with her foster parents, Rey had immersed herself fully in the American culture. It had all started with one woman from Louisiana.

Britney Spears.

She couldn’t get enough as a child and was still on the Britney train as an adult. Rey would sing _‘Lucky’_ in the shower. She would hum _‘Oops I Did It...Again_ ’ while she washed the dishes. If Rey even heard a second of a Britney song while out running errands, she’d be singing it for days and God did it drive Ben crazy. Out of any pop singer in the world, Britney Spears had to be the worst of them in his opinion and this was an opinion that Ben expressed often but the woman he loved, the woman stood behind the bar with her heart in her throat, absolutely adored the pop icon. And no matter how he felt about her music or his ego, this was for the woman he loved.

It was settled.

Ben tapped the option on the touch screen. The intro to the song began to play that all too familiar instrumental. The words appeared so quickly on the screen, Ben had little time to hesitate before he was meant to sing.

“ _Oh baby, baby,”_ Ben began to sing hesitantly, taking a quick sip of his drink before jumping back in, “ _Oh, baby, baby…”_

“ _Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know? That something wasn’t right here…”_ unsure of the words, Ben kept his eyes on the karaoke screen, his gaze flickering between the crowd and the lyrics.

“ _Oh baby, baby, I shouldn’t have let you go,”_

Surprising to himself and to the crowd, Ben had quite a lovely singing voice despite his hesitation. Deep and a little slurred, thanks to the alcohol, but his voice traveled. All the way to the back of the room where Rey stood, her hands covering her eyes from the second hand embarrassment. 

Although his tone was out of place for a higher pitched pop song, it still managed to work with the instrumental. 

“ _And now you’re out of sight, yeah…”_ still slightly uncomfortable, Ben took a quick sip of his drink. Almost choking as he tried to jump into the pre-chorus with a slight delay.

“ _Show me how you want it to be…_ ”

“ _Tell me baby_ ,” His eyes shot to the back of the room once more, to Rey who’s hands had moved from her eyes to her mouth, “ _‘cause I need to know now, oh, because…_ ”

“ _My loneliness is killing me…_ ” Ben sung as he began the iconic chorus, politely placing his drink by the microphone stand. The last thing he needed was Rey having to clean up broken glass, especially if this didn’t work out.

“ _And I…_ ” he had started to really get into it, his two large hands wrapped around the microphone as he sung the backing vocals in a higher pitch, “ _...I must confess, I still believe...still believe_ ”.

A smile had formed on Rey’s face from what Ben could see under the dim lighting. Rose next to her had her phone held high, recording as she laughed at his attempt of a serenade. His focus kept on Rey, singing to her and only her. The crowd in front of him had disappeared entirely. 

It was safe to say he was surprised. Surprised that the lyrics of the seemingly shallow pop song had related to how he felt so much. His loneliness _was_ killing him and he _did_ still believe they could make things work. Ben just hoped that Rey was really listening.

“ _When I’m not with you I lose my mind… Give me a sign…_ ” Ben sung, begged. 

“ _Hit me baby, one more time…_ ” 

There it was. That famous line. One that he loathed. One that he could not believe he was singing, let alone with a crowd in front of him but Rey was smiling, laughing into her hand and god did it feel good to make her laugh instead of cry.

Ben picked up the energy for the second verse. With deep arm gestures as he pranced around the stage, Rey the only thing in his vision as the crowd around him laughed at his overly dramatic performance. Watching as she laughed, shook her head, covered her eyes, hid in Rose's shoulder. All at his expense. He kept going. Singing the end of the verse and jumping into the pre chorus once more, doing a quick spin on his feet before walking to the other side of the stage.

Surprisingly this was quite fun. Ben hadn’t sung or performed in front of anyone in a long time. The last time being the high school talent show he did with his metal band Knights of Ren which ended in booing right before Ben’s screaming solo. Then there was the harassment over it at school for at least six months afterwards. A traumatic event, it was safe to say his performing days were over and being on a stage in front of people would usually be daunting to say the least. Ben didn’t know what it was. The atmosphere in the crowd, the alcohol running through his blood, the fact he had nothing left to lose, the idea he was _‘fighting’_ to win the woman he loved most back. It had to be one of those contributing to his high energy.

The music slowed down, past the interlude and entering the bridge.

“ _I must confess...that my loneliness...is killing me now…_ ” this was it, the final parts.

“ _Don’t you know I still believe...that you will be here…_ ” Ben sung to Rey, desperately.

“ _And give me a sign…_ ” 

“ _Hit me baby one more time…_ ” 

Three minutes and thirty seconds had felt like an eternity but Ben had done it. Finishing the last line of the chorus, the music faded out and Ben gave the crowd a little bow before shuffling off stage. Finishing off his drink, he wiped the sweat off his brow. Singing was thirsty work. 

His plan was to approach the bar next, get Rey’s reaction, beg her to talk to him but he didn’t have to. As soon as he stepped back into the darkness, Rey was in front of him, rushing over from behind the bar and weaving through the crowds flocking to the bar to get another drink.

Now they were face to face. Ben, despite his blurred vision, took the time to admire Rey. Her tan skin and the freckles that littered her cheeks and nose. Her nose, how cute and small it was. Her lips, soft and plush, inviting. They stood in silence, unsure who was to talk first.

“I-“ Ben started, “I’m sorry, Rey. For everything.”

Rey had looked to the ground, unsure of what to say or how to respond. But then she looked up to him. “What the fuck was that?” 

Ben’s frown softened as Rey began to laugh. The chuckle was music to his ears. Offering her a smile, Ben shrugged. His palms to the ceiling as a way to say _‘I don’t know what the fuck that was’_.

“We should probably talk, yeah?” Rey said, Ben nodded in response. It was high time they did.

Next to a worm dumpster in the alleyway, Ben and Rey sat side by side. A nice change from the loud environment inside. Rey snuck Ben through the back, Rose happily covered for her; what were friends for right?

“You made yourself look like a moron” Rey said, breaking the silence between them. Fidgeting as she looked to Ben. 

“Yeah, I did” he simply put, nodding in agreement.

Rey let out a sigh, hesitating before she spoke. “I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me…”

“What are you even talking about?” Ben said, outraged by the thought. Of course he wanted her to talk to him. That’s all Ben had ever wanted.

“A couple days after… I came by and Mitaka said it was probably for the best if I left you alone” Rey said quietly, unable to look Ben in the eye.

Mitaka? That fucking idiot. Rey must have stopped by the night after they went out for drinks. Ben has been so intoxicated, he passed out till noon. Mitaka, the kind (and meddling) friend he was, had stayed at Ben’s and had waited for him to wake up. Why the hell would he even say something like that to Rey? After all, Armitage and Mitaka learnt how in deep Ben was after round six of tequila shots. 

“Fucking...Mitaka!” he exclaimed, tense with anger, slamming his hand on the dumpster beside him.

The next time he saw that asshole, he’d have words that was for fucking sure but for now, Rey was by his side and it was up to him to fix not only Mitaka’s mistake but his own too.

“Rey, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. That’s not the case at all”

He took her hand, small and cold, in his own. Holding on so tightly, never did a hand fit so perfectly in his own. “Rey, I can’t apologise enough for everything. For what I said and how I acted. After you left I realised how insignificant all that bullshit was. It means nothing, unlike losing you. That was... the fucking worst. You’re everything to me” 

“All I want is you...if you’ll have me” Ben said. It was all he could say, and hopefully it was enough. 

A hand was placed on top of his own, Rey’s other hand. Her oak bark eyes stared into his, filling him with warmth, that’s when he knew they were okay. That it was all a misunderstanding, there was still time to save their future together. It wasn’t going to be the end of them after all.

“Let’s get out of here” Rey said, staring right behind Ben’s head towards the dumpster instead, her nose slightly screwed up from its smell.

Not the most romantic place to reignite your relationship but it will do. 

The Rebel Karaoke Lounge was down one member of staff after Ben Solo’s performance, Rey had gone home sick. Suddenly catching a wave of nausea, Rose was happy to fill in for her friend for the rest of the night.

Along 49th, a tall man and his shorter companion walked hand in hand down the street. 

“So, you’re a Britney fan now?” Rey teased.

“No, but I’m a massive fan of someone called Rey, maybe you’ve heard of her” he smiled, earning himself a nudge from the woman by his side.

“I don’t think we’re finished talking yet. Back to yours?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” 

Rey had this look in her eye. Mischievous. Whether they would be talking or ‘ _talking’_ when they got back to his, it didn’t matter. What mattered most was having her by his side again. The feelings of guilt and sadness wash away with each little hand squeeze or sneaky peck on the cheek as they took the Uber back to his apartment. 

Rey was back in his arms and now it would take a lot more than a stupid fight for her to leave them again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope whoever sent in the prompt likes it haha
> 
> You can find me on twitter @benswolos x


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